Runaway
by Mango-Lychee
Summary: (OC inserted)Kotori's father doesn't approve of his daughter being the head of the company due to her being a girl so he arranges a marriage so the man Kotori marries would to take charge of the company instead. Kotori finds out the man she'll marry is a scammer that likes to have leaders of companies pay debt. She runs away, eventually ending up in the Yoruzuya house.
1. Chapter 1

**Note: Chapter updates are unknown and will be uploaded whenever. Don't worry, I will eventually upload more chapters. It's because I have school and work so it's hard to manage my free time writing chapters.**

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Gintoki looked down at the young girl lying on the couch in the Yorozuya's along with Shinpachi and Kagura.

"Oi, miss, you dead yet?" Gintoki asked as he was constantly poking the girl lying down on the couch on her forehead until his hand was smacked away from Shinpachi, gesturing him to stop.

"Gin-San, she's alive you know, can't you see she's breathing? Besides, if she was dead she wouldn't be able to say that she's dead because she's dead," Shinpachi lectured them, whispering a bit too loudly which was almost sounding like the normal tone of yelling.

"Maybe she came back from the dead to tell us that she's dead Shinpachi. You never know."

Shinpachi whispered loudly, "What do you think this is, "The Walking Dead?"

"Sshh, guys shut up, I think she's waking up." Gintoki whispered.

The girl lying down slowly opened her eyes. Above her, she saw a man in about his twenties with silver curly hair, a girl with pale white skin who wore a bright red cheongsam and had red hair that held ornaments to hold her two buns and a plain looking boy with black hair and glasses looking down at her. She was certain she never saw their faces before and was certain that she has never seen this place before. The girl slowly sat up from the couch she laid and looked at the three unfamiliar faces in front of her. Her head started throbbing and she flinched at the pain. It felt like she fell off a high cliff and landed on her head.

"Where am I and what happened to me?" She asked. The three individuals looked at each other nervously.

The China girl went a bit closer to the girl and grabbed her shoulders and stared intensely with her big blue eyes at her. "You were an angel that fell from the sky and you hit your head on the ground as you fell from it."

The silvered-haired man smacked the red head right upside her head, "That is completely off to what actually happened Kagura. You can't just lie like that Kagura. What are you five?" The silver-haired man cleared his throat and started to speak.

"Let's just say, I was on my scooter, on my way to buy Jump and then you so happen to be running in the way and I ran you over. Let's say that you took quite a hit." The silver-haired man gave the girl a nervous laugh along with the boy with glasses and the red-haired girl. The man with the perm started mumbling to the other two about how his scooter is always running over people and how it might be cursed.

In an instant, everything came back to the girl and she was able to remember everything that happened. She was running away from her husband-to-be along with his henchmen who were chasing her down, trying their best to not let her get away.

The girl quickly got up from the couch, "Sorry, I gotta go."

"Wait!" The boy with glasses called out, we didn't even introduce ourselves properly!"

The girl stopped midway in the stranger's house, "Name's Kotori."

"Well Kotori, we don't even know if you're all set to go. What if you're still injured?"

"I'm alright," Kotori said. She didn't actually mean what she said, though. Her whole body felt sore and her head was suffering from a massive headache. Kotori's vision started to get blurry and was about to collapse until someone caught her on time before she hit the floor.

"Easy," Said a deep voice, barely able to make out who it was that was talking to Kotori. Suddenly, she blacked out.

Again, Kotori woke up to see the three strangers looking down at her.

"Miss you all right?" The red haired girl asked.

Kotori slowly sat up from the couch, again. Instead of panicking and freaking out, she felt all calm and relaxed; mostly because her brain was too exhausted to react at the moment.

The boy with glasses spoke up. "Kotori, that's your name right? If it's alright for me to ask, are you facing a problem of any sort? If so we can help you."

Kotori automatically snapped back. "No. I don't even know you people so why on earth would I want help from you who looks like an otaku, a girl who's flat as a board and a man who looks like a good for nothing?"

"What'd you say to us!?" The two kids barked out. The red-haired girl and the boy with glasses were about to launch themselves at Kotori until luckily, the silver-haired man had a chance to hold them back.

"Oi, how bout you two take this outside," Gintoki adviced.

The boy with glasses cleared his throat. "Ahem." Even though he was calm, his face showed that he was still agitated. "Anyways sorry about that. My name is Shinpachi, that girl is name Kagura and the one with the stupid perm is Gintoki."

"What'd you say about me?" Gintoki barked. "It's always gotta be my stupid perm. Why couldn't I be born with luscious straight hair?" He was about to launch himself at Shinpachi which turned out to be the exact same action that Kagura and Shinpachi were about to pull on Kotori. Instead Kagura, was the one to be holding Gintoki back.

Shinpachi continued talking on what he was saying. "We're the Yorozuya. We're always willing to help anybody."

Gintoki came up to Shinpachi and whispered into his ear. "Oi, oi. Shinpachi-kun. You forgot to tell her that she's gotta pay if she wants us to help." Despite that being a whisper, Kotori heard what Gintoki whispered to Shinpachi. She took out her money pouch and put it on the table. She was glad that she still had it after knowing she was roughly knocked out by a scooter.

"If you guys are willing to help me, this is all I gotta offer." No matter how much she hated getting help from people, she felt she'd have a chance to have her certain situation solved.

Gintoki looked awed as he saw the money pouch and grabbed it greedily. Kotori swore she saw his eyes sparkle at the large amount.

"Ay, look Shinpachi look how big this pouch is. I could probably have so many rounds at pachinko or I could pay Otose with this amount."

Shinpachi looked at the man with an unexpressive look. "Gin-San... Don't forget that we gotta help this person, too."

"Ya, ya I know," Gintoki said. Although, Shinpachi was pretty sure that he didn't listen to a word he said.

"That good for nothing Gin-San," Shinpachi muttered to Kotori as he took a big sigh after.

"Let me go make some tea while you tell us your situation."

"Thank you," Kotori said. Gintoki and Kagura sat down on the couch that was across from the couch she was sitting on. Their faces showed that they were ready to listen to her.

Kotori took a deep breath before she told her story. "My father, you see... He owns a company in my town which is very successful. Since I'm the only child I would become the successor of his company. Only thing is that, I'm a girl and my father doesn't want me to be the head of the company because of that so he arranged a marriage for me so that my husband to be would be the head of the company."

"But Nee-San, you look so young to get married." Kagura told her.

"I am twenty-one you know. Usually women start getting married at this age." Kotori said.

"That's if you love the person you're marrying," Shinpachi said as he entered the living room with a tray of tea sets. He put it down on the table in the middle of couches. He sat down with the two.

"Try telling that to my hot-headed father," Kotori added in.

"Anyways, on where we left on. Me and the man my father arranged the marriage with aren't married yet but we were put in the same house to live together. That's when I found out he's a son of a bitch that likes to scam companies and make them bankrupt. His plan is to have my father get as much loans from the man and have him in debt. After I found out, I managed to run away and did my best to try to reach my hometown but he and his henchmen were running after me and I ended up running in this town.

"So it all makes sense with your large amount of money you gave us and why you were running, "Gintoki stated.

Kotori nodded.

A loud and rough knock sounded from the Yorozuya's door. Everyone looked at each other nervously as they all had a feeling of who it was knocking on the door.

Gintoki stood up from the coach. "Shinpachi, go hide Kotori in one of the rooms."

Shinpachi nodded to the command and lead Kotori to Gintoki's room. "Just stay here until we tell you to come out," Shinpachi whispered to her.

"Yes," Kotori whisperedback. Her heart started beating fast. She was scared of what will happen once that door would open. What will they do to the Yorozuya? She hoped nothing bad would happen to them. They did so much for her in a short amount of time and she wanted to repay them back as soon as possible.

Kotori heard a door opening. She slightly opened the door in the room she was in so she was able to peek outside.

"Where is she?" A deep intimidating voice asked out loud.


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm to make the story have references just like Gintama has just so it's a bit like the Gintama world.**

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Gintoki opened the door and standing outside were two burly men in black suits with black sunglasses sitting on their faces. One was dark skinned and the other was white skinned. They looked very American which made them look even more familiar for Gintoki.

"Where is she?" The white guy asked. He had some sort of accent when he talked.

Gintoki completely ignored what they were asking."Well of it isn't Will and Smith!" Gintoki called out to the two large burly men. Even not mentioning a word, he could tell that the two men had two confused expressions behind their black sunglasses from being called Will and Smith

Shinpachi reached up to Gintoki's ear. "What are you trying to reference them too? They're definitely not Will and Smith. And isn't Will and Smith actually a full name?"

"What are you talking about?" Gintoki asked out loud. He pointed at the men in suits with his fingers. "Can't you see that it's Will and Smith? Just look at them closely!"

"Gin-San they're not Will and Smith! They're actually Kay and Jay. Will Smith is the actor who plays as one of them. Didn't you know that?" Gintoki giggled a bit, trying to hide his embarrassment from the slight confusion he made. The man who looked like an Agent K look-alike and the man who looked like an Agent J look-alike pulled out their guns and held them up at Gintoki and Shinpachi's forehead.

"Don't answer right now an' I'll have yer brains blown out. Where is she?" The Agent K look-alike interrogated. Gintoki and Shinpachi panicked and they raised their hands up as if they were being arrested by the police.

"Where's Kagura-Chan?" Shinpachi asked the silver haired man beside him.

"I don't know Shinpachi!" Gintoki panicked.

"I'm warning ya. If ya don't answer me in five seconds, yer dead," The Agent K look-alike said. The Agent J look-alike just stood there and nodded as if it was more intimidating and it might have been for Gintoki and Shinpachi if they weren't being held up at gun point.

"I-I don't know who you guys are asking for?" Gintoki said. He tried his best to play dumb and acted like he didn't know who the person the two men in suits asked for.

"Same here," Shinpachi said doing the same think Gintoki was doing. The two burly men pressed their guns harder to the two foreheads.

"Yer not foolin' us. We saw her runnin' away and we followed her. I'm pretty sure ya know who we're talkin' 'bout."

"I'm sorry, I really don't know who you're talking about," Gintoki said nervously.

"Kotori," The Agent K look-alike growled.

"Who?" Gintoki asked stalling the two men in black suits. They slowly pressed down on the trigger, not shooting them in the head yet. "Five... four... three..." They pressed further on the trigger and just as "two" was about to be counted, a gigantic white dog whose size is as big as one bedroom tackled the two men in black suits.

Gintoki and Shinpachi called out to the dog at the same time and went to give the dog a big hug."Sadaharu, you saved us!" Shinpachi cried out.

Kagura walked up the stairs outside of the Yorozuya. "Good job Sadaharu," She praised and petted Sadaharu's white coat. Sadaharu barked as if he we're saying "thank you."

"Where were you Kagura? You were literally right beside me when I opened the door for Agent K and Agent J and then all of a sudden you disappeared!" Gintoki told to Kagura.

"I forgot that I left Sadaharu downstairs at Otose's so I snuck out to get him." Kagura replied.

The two men in black suits became conscious after taking quite a rough impact on the head from being tackled by a giant dog. Their heads were dripping with blood, their faces also had a few scratches, the temples from their bent black sunglasses dangled off their faces and their suits were completely disheveled. They looked like a complete mess.

"We'll be comin' back." The Agent K look-alike growled. "Did ya hear us Kotori, we'll be back. Don't think these guys had us fooled. Takahiro will be hearing about this. Did ya hear?" The men in black suits started walking away from the Yoruzuya house. Until they were clear out of the sight, Gintoki closed his front door.

"You can come out Kotori!"

Kotori slowly opened the door and walked out into the living room. For the whole time, she peeked out through the slightly opened door in the room she was in. She witnessed everything that happened from the front door opening and seeing the two men in black suits to seeing a giant dog. She saw everything. There were times Kotori wanted to face palm so bad from seeing how stupid Gintoki and Shinpachi really were. It wasn't a bad thing but acting stupid in a life or death situation wasn't really the greatest idea. When the two male Yoruzuyas were held at gun point, Kotori was about to jump out and save them but luckily, Kagura saved them. At the end she was relieved that everyone was alright but was also worried that Takahiro and the two men in black suits will come back to fine them. Kotori knew right away, she had to go back to her town to warn her dad of what will happen if she married Takahiro. She doubted her father wouldn't believe her in the slightest chance but it was worth it. No matter how ignorant and obnoxious he was to her, Kotori still cared about her father.

"Sorry to ask but who were those two guys at the door?" Shinpachi asked.

Kotori looked away from their eyes feeling guilty for bringing the Yoruzuya into this. They deserved an answer. "They go by Shiro and Kuro. The one who's white is Shiro and if you guessed it, the one who's black is Kuro."

"Pretty convenient names, aren't they?" Gintoki asked looking unimpressed.

"Yes," Kotori said quietly.

"What are you going to do now?" Kagura asked.

"I must go back to my hometown to warn my father about Takahiro wanting to scam his company. In under no circumstances shall I get married with that bastard." Kotori looked straight at Gintoki's, Shinpachi's and Kagura's eyes with determination. "Forgive me, I must go alone."

"What are you saying?" Shinpachi asked her. "We can help you!"

"You musn't. I'd hate it if I were to get you involved."

"We're the Yoruzuya, we're always getting involved." Kagura said with compassion.

Kotori felt a hand on her shoulder and saw it belonged to Gintoki. She looked up at him seeing him juggle the money pouch in one hand and even heard the money jiggle around. "I'm sorry ma'am, we don't give refunds."

Just looking at Gintoki, Kotori felt like she couldn't turn down his offers. Something about him didn't let you say no and no matter how useless he looked he looked like he wouldn't let you down. Something about that attracted Kotori.

Kotori hesitated and looked at everybody. She made her decision. "If it's alright with you guys."

Gintoki took his hands of Kotori's shoulder and gave her a pleased smile. It made Kotori's cheeks turn slightly red and made her heart beat a little.

"Alright guys, we'll head out tomorrow," Gintoki told everyone. Everyone nodded.

"Thank you guys," Kotori thanked them. She smiled at them. Everyone in the house made her feel welcomed and made her feel like she mattered which she never felt back home. Her mother died giving birth to her and for her whole life, it was just Kotori and her father. Kotori never had any nice memories of her and her father. When Kotori was just a kid, she would always ask her father if he wanted to play with her and he would look at her with the look of annoyance, saying "no" in a cold voice and turned around, having his back face Kotori and would walk away from his daughter. All her life, Kotori dealt with nothing but hatred and negligence with her father and always wanted to get out of the house as soon as possible.

The next day came by and the sun was just coming up, telling everyone in the town that it was morning and it was time to get up.

"You guys ready?" Gintoki asked everyone.

Both Shinpachi and Kagura answered with excitement. "Yes!"

Everyone went outside near the stairs of the Yorozuya's house. Kotori saw an old lady come out of the shop below with another old lady that had real cat ears on her head. Seeing Sadaharu and the lady with cat ears didn't surprise Kotori at all, though. She was used to them just like everyone else in the world. After all, everyone knew them as amantos that came from space and conquered earth a long time ago.

"Hey Gin-San, where's my rent?" The old lady asked as she looked up at Gintoki coming down the stairs.

"Right here, Otose," Gintoki replied. He took out the large money pouch that Kotori paid them with and tossed it at the old lady whose name is supposedly Otose.

Gintoki brought out his scooter. "Hey Kotori, choose what you want to ride on." Kotori felt the ground shake and she saw Sadaharu from her side walking towards her. One top of the giant dog was Kagura who was holding a purple parasol. In front of her was Gintoki sitting on his scooter. Kotori was nervous to ride on a giant dog so she chose to ride the scooter with Gintoki.

"Hey Gin-San, wasn't that money suppose to be our travel money?" Shinpachi asked as he climbed on Sadaharu. They started moving.

Gintoki smirked, "It's here?" He took out his money pouch. Otose opened her pouch and inside was nothing but candy instead of money she was suppose to receive.

"Gin-San, what is this?" Otose called out.

"Your rent!" Gintoki yelled out.

"This isn't rent you good for nothing!"

Gintoki didn't answer back and soon enough, they rode off soon to be out of sight from the Yorozuya house, ready to go on a new adventure.


	3. Chapter 3

**Oh god, sorry for taking like 10 million decades to upload ONE chapter. I had exams to prep for. I hope I'll upload the next chapter in a short time.**

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It was afternoon and Kotori and the Yoruzuya were going about in a forest. Gintoki and Kotori were riding on the Gintoki's scooter and beside them were Shinpachi and Kagura were riding on Sadaharu.

"Gin-San, are we there yet?" Kagura asked sounding all tired. Even though she was shaded by her purple umbrella, it didn't do any help for her.

"Don't ask me," Gintoki said. He also sounded exhausted and he was dying from the heat just like everyone else.

"Where are we?" Shinpachi asked. Henwas the same as everyone else. He was also tired and hot from the horrible heat wave they were experiencing at the moment.

"This is the path I took to get to the Kabuki district."

"I hope we get to your town as soon as possible, this heat is unbearable," Gintoki complained. Kotori had to agree with him. The afternoon heat was unbearable and it had everyone looking worn out and sweaty. Kotori felt sweat stains forming on her kimono and had noticed that Gintoki had sweat stains forming at the back of his yukata. In that situation, Kotori felt gross and wish that Gintoki and her weren't so close to each other.

"Same here,"Kotori whined. "I could kill for a nice cold bath, I feel and smell disgusting."

"Geez, I came here to do my job and not smell like a mix of an old man and some dirty socks." Kotori cringed at that mental image that was described for her and was glad she couldn't smell that on him or her or the rest of the group yet.

"You shouldn't be talking Gin-San," Kagura said, "Us young girls have to stay away from the sun or it'll ruin our beauty."

"Tch, I must be a woman then because I also want to stay away from the sun," Gintoki mumbled to himself.

"Huh, I can't gear you Gin-San speak louder," Kagura said.

"I didn't say anything," Gintoki said, laughing nervously while he was scratching the back of his head in nervousness. Kotori heard what Gintoki said and wanted to laugh but her hot, dehydrated self didn't give her the energy to do so.

Sadaharu started barking and it caught everyone's attention and stopped in the midst of the path they were on. "What's wrong Sadaharu?" Kagura asked sounding concerned. Sadaharu pointed at a few bushes with his front paw. "Arf," Sadaharu barked.

Sadaharu says that there's something over there." Kagura said for the giant white dog as if she completely understood what the dog was saying.

To Kotori, something was very skeptical about the bushes that Sadaharu pointed at and it made her feel uneasy. When she looked straight ahead of the bushes, it was pitch black and she couldn't see anything that was ahead.

"I don't think we should be heading towards there, Kagura," Shinpachi said sounding a bit worried. "Who knows what's behind those bushes."

"Shinpachi, don't be such a baby." Kagura said, "Besides, Sadaharu would never take us somewhere dangerous. Isn't that right Sadaharu?" Kagura asked Sadaharu. The dog barked back and Kagura gave him a nice big smile and patted him on the head.

"I kind of agree with Shinpachi, Kagura," Kotori said feeling a bit queasy. "I don't know about you guys but you can't even see what's ahead because it's so dark."

"What are you talking about Kotori?" Gintoki asked. "There's nothing there, there's no need to be afraid. Same to you Shinpachi-Kun, don't be a baby." No matter how convincing he looked, Kotori could see that Gintoki was also scared by how he was shaking a bit and the nervous sweat drops he had on his face.

"Gin-San," Shinpachi called as he raised one eyebrow at Gintoki. "Why are you shaking?"

"M-Me shaking? I'm not shaking," Gintoki said as his breath was sounded a bit shaky.

"Gin-San you're scared too," Shinpachi stated.

"Am, not!" Gintoki defended himself.

"Are too!" Shinpachi exclaimed.

Kotori rolled her eyes at the boys' stupidity and took a deep breath, "Guys, maybe there is something beyond that point, let's just find out. As long as it takes me back home, I'll go with it."

"Besides," Kagura added in, "The way Onee-sama is taking us right now is taking us nowhere."

"Hey!" Kotori exclaimed sounding offended. She was certain the way they were going was the path she took when she ran away. Since it was in broad daylight, all of her surroundings we're noticeable. She remembered the big rice field a mile back with the familiar looking white scarecrow with the black top hat and a black fancy tuxedo with a dark blue bow tie. Kotori wasn't able to grasp where the scarecrow was from.

"Alright, let's go then," Gintoki and Shinpachi agreed. They still looked a bit scared but Kotori couldn't blame them, she was scared, too. Going beyond those bushes seemed like hell for them.

Kagura pointed her purple umbrella towards the bushes that Sadaharu pointed at. "Let's go, Sadaharu! Lead us the way!" Kagura ordered. Sadaharu nodded and led everyone towards the bushes. As they passed through the bush, they were onto a different path that took them to a dark forest.

"Where is this? Where are we?" Kotori asked, "I can't see a thing in here." She wasn't exaggerating at all. She couldn't see what was ahead of her, she couldn't see Gintoki in front of her and only felt the scooter that they were riding on, she couldn't see Kagura or Shinpachi at all and not a single glimpse of the sky and sun was to be seen.

"Kagura, Shinpachi, you guys here?" Gintoki asked out.

"We're here!" Kagura and Shinpachi yelled back. Kagura and Gintoki heard their voices but couldn't see where they were.

"Gin-San, slow down on the scooter would ya? What if we crash into something dangerous?"

"What are you talking about Kotori? If we go faster we get out of here faster."

"But we can't even see where we're going."

"Don't worry, nothing bad will happen!"

They went over a huge bump which almost had Kotori fall off the scooter but luckily, she held on tight to Gintoki. If she was going to fall off, she would take Gintoki down with her just because he didn't listen to her.

Gintoki decided to slow down his scooter. "What was that?

"I don't know, but it wouldn't have happened if you'd slow down!"

Kotori heard Gintoki laugh nervously. Kotori rolled her eyes for what seemed to be the millionth time. It'd be something to possibly laugh about later but since it was dark and scary it just made Kotori more nervous and Kotori wanted to get out of the forest as soon as possible.

A light started to flash straight into Kotori and Gintoki's eyes, blinding them more than the dark forest did.

"You, and you! Watch where you're going!" The person behind yelled at them angrily. He rubbed the back of his head. Now that that Kotori and Gintoki were able to see because of the light that was being shown, they were able to see that the person in front of them was so short that they were as tall as Kotori's knee down to her foot. The person also had feet that were twice as big as Kotori's and Gintoki's and they looked more like flippers than anything but the person's feet looked just like any humans and they convinced Kotori that they were actually feet. Kotori questioned whether the small man was actually a human or an amanto because no grown man she saw was that short.

"What do you mean watch where I'm going? Maybe you should watch where _you're_ going, shorty!" Gintoki yelled back at the old man.

"Excuse me, I'll have you know, my flashlight batteries just so happened to die so I was about to put in new batteries but you guys came speeding with that vehicle of yours!"

"Maybe it was you that was too slow and we were too fast for you," Gintoki argued.

"Shut up you perm, I couldn't see a thing in this darkness so there was no way in hell that I'd be running in an area I couldn't see."

"Same here, shorty!"

"Why you, stop calling me a shorty!" The tiny man launched himself at Gintoki, dropping his flashlight as he tackled the silver-haired man to the ground. Gintoki got a few hits and punches from the short aggressive man.

"Get your hands off of me!" Gintoki yelled at the man on top of him. No matter how much Gintoki tried to get out of the short man's grasp, there was no way out for him. "Kotori help me!" He pleaded with the sound of someone who was about to be chocked.

Kotori went closer to the fight scene and was nervous that the short man would target her next but she had to help Gintoki because he needed her help. Kotori lifted up the short man off of Gintoki as if he we're a baby or a dog with his legs dangling in the air. He looked silly, having Kotori lift him up in the air and it would've been quite a laugh but Kotori contained herself because she had a feeling that if she laughed, the short man would be twice as aggressive.

"Put me down!" The short man yelled as he flailed around in Kotori's hands, trying to break free but it was useless.

"Enough sir, if you manage to kill him, I would lose the person I need help from and I won't be able to face the rest of the Yoruzuya so you can kill him after my request is fulfilled." Kotori put the man down on the ground and he went to pick up his flashlight and turned around to face Kotori with his scowling face. The glance made Kotori feel awkward and she had to look away.

Kotori cleared her throat, "We apologize for running you over with our scooter and all and I would like to know where we are."

"I'll tell you once this man apologizes," The short man said as he shown the flashlight at Gintoki. He slightly kicked Gintoki who was still lying on the ground, still trying to recover from what had happened to him. Even though the man was short, he was strong as ever. Kotori and the short man looked down at him, waiting for Gintoki to apologize. Gintoki didn't say anything, showing that he didn't want to apologize. The short man slightly kicked the silver-haired man on the ground again.

Gintoki grunted a bit as he got kicked. "Fine, fine. I'm sorry for everything. Now tell us where we are." He even though Gintoki apologized, he sounded sarcastic as ever but the short man accepted it.

"Apology accepted," The short man said as he smirked. He turned around having his back faced towards Kotori and Gintoki who was still lying on the ground.

"Follow me, and I'll tell you everything you need to know." The short man said and he started walking and led the way with his flashlight. It was hard to notice when it was dark in the forest, but when some parts of the forest was shone because of the flashlight; Kotori noticed how many trees there were to make the forest so dark.

Kotori gave out a hand to help Gintoki get up from the ground.

"Thanks,"Gintoki said as he stood up from the ground. He grunted from the pain he took from the short man that tackled him. The man might have been short but his aggressiveness shouldn't be underestimated.

Gintoki and Kotori looked around them. "Where are Shinpachi and Kagura?" Kotori asked. With the slight hint of light from the flashlight the stranger was holding, they we're able to see that the rest of the group was nowhere to be found.

"Aw man, I hope we find them," Kotori said, feeling worried.

"Maybe we'll find them eventually if we follow that shorty," Gintoki suggested. There was nothing else they could do so Kotori stuck to Gintoki's plan and hoped for the best. They started following the stranger, feeling uneasy and untrustworthy of him but it was their only option to get out of the creepy dark forest and a possible hope to find Shinpachi and Kagura.


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's another chapter. Had a huge writer's block and man, I hate when that happens. I was also working on another story.**

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"We haven't introduced ourselves properly," Kotori said. They were still walking in the dark forest for about 15 minutes now. Thanks to the short, grouchy man, the darkness wasn't blinding because of the flashlight he brought along with him and Kotori's eyes felt less strained from trying to see her surroundings in the darkness.

"Oh yes," The man said. It never occurred to him either that he didn't know who the two people he was leading were. He was walking in the front having his back facing Kotori and Gintoki.

The man introduced himself. "My name is Bliblo Baggons." He didn't bother to stop in his tracks and turn around and talk to Kotori and Gintoki's faces.

"I'm Kotori and the man beside me is Gintoki."

"Hm." Bliblo still didn't bother to turn around as Kotori introduced herself and Gintoki but for Bliblo, it was obvious who was who.

Gintoki asked obnoxiously. "Hey, shorty, what are you anyways? I've never seen an amanto or a human that looks anything like you before." Kotori elbowed Gintoki in the ribs and heard him slightly saying "ow" and having him ask her what that was for.

This time, Bliblo stopped in his tracks and quickly turned around with his flashlight shining on his face showing that Bliblo was indeed angry for being called a shorty. Kotori knew that "shorty" was a trigger word for the small guy and made sure to make note of that just so no one else would call him a shorty.

Bliblo shouted at Gintoki, "Stop calling me a shorty, I have a name ya know!

"Ok, ok, forgive me Bliblo." Gintoki feigned to apologize.

"Ya, ya," Bliblo said sarcastically.

"Anyways, I am a hobbit," Bliblo said as he pointed at himself. He had a look of pride showing on his face and if it were possible it would've been enough to light up the whole forest.

"A hobbit? What is that?" Kotori asked. Never once in her life had she met someone one or seen someone that was supposedly a "hobbit." Since Bliblo was the only hobbit she's seen in her life, maybe there were other hobbits who we're different but Kotori guessed wrong after Bliblo explained.

"You see, us hobbits aren't common around here. I'm one of those uncommon people here. All of us are usually as tall as me and their feet are huge as mine as you see. That's all."

"Ah, so there are more people like you? That's great." Gintoki pretended to look interested in Bliblo's explanations.

Bliblo could tell that Gintoki wasn't in one slightest bit interested in what he was saying and rolled his eyes. He turned around and proceeded to lead Kotori and Gintoki further into the dark forest. With the slight dim from the flashlight, Kotori saw the smirk on Gintoki's face. Kotori elbowed him in the ribs once a again and heard the quiet "ow" coming out from his mouth for the second time.

"So, what are you guys doing in here?" Bliblo asked breaking the six seconds of awkward silence.

Kotori and Gintoki looked at each other nervously, both knowing why. It was seriously a stupid reason and Kotori would've felt more stupid explaining that a giant white dog led the way and that she was too gullible and trusting that dog and the owner was the stupidest choice Kotori has made. Maybe they would've gotten somewhere if they followed Kotori's way. Even though it was scorching hot and sweat was dripping off everyone's body like a waterfall, they would've been able to find somewhere much more safer than the deep dark forest they we're in and nobody would be split up.

"Let's just say, we got lost on our way," Kotori vaguely said, laughing nervously.

"You wouldn't to happen to see girl with red hair and a boy with glasses riding on a giant white dog?" Gintoki asked Bliblo.

"Nope," Bliblo said casually.

"God damn it, how troublesome," Gintoki whined. "I just wanna find those two brats and get the hell outta here."

"If they have a dog, I'm pretty sure they'll eventually find you guys. I can't predict when but my instincts tell me that they'll find you.

"Thank you," Kotori said and bowed showing that she was grateful. Of course, Bliblo didn't see since he was walking ahead of her with his back facing her.

Kotori and Gintoki saw a bright light shining at the end of the trail and she was sure that it was the exit from the dark forest. Kotori felt relieved about that and couldn't wait to get out, not being able to see anything and not knowing what went on in the forest made Kotori nervous and she didn't want be in there anymore. It was the same for Gintoki as well. He was scared the minute he entered the forest but he didn't want to admit that to Kotori or the others.

Right as they exited the forest, everything around everyone was bright and everything that couldn't be seen in the forest were seen right there. Kotori looked up at the sun and sky she missed seeing. She saw that the sun was setting and the sky was turning orange and pink and Kotori knew that evening had come. ' _How long were we in there?'_ Kotori questioned herself.

"I can finally see properly," Gintoki exclaimed with happiness. He knelt down and started to hug the nice green grass. Kotori hadn't noticed before but she noticed that Gintoki was covered in dry dirt, his clothes were also wrinkled and he had a slight bruise and cut on his face. How tough was the tiny short Bliblo? Kotori wanted to laugh but knew that it wouldn't be the appropriate time for her to laugh at the moment.

"Wow" Kotori looked astonished. She saw the rest of the surroundings. There was a tiny lake that had big koi fish and turtles swimming around, squirrels were chasing each other and ran around the trees, pretty flowers that shouldn't be able to grow in the environment they were in were growing everywhere; camellias, lilacs, roses, hibiscus. You name it. There was also a vegetable garden and the vegetable looked ripe and crisp. What caught her attention the most was the house in the middle. It was pretty short, the grass covered the whole roof, and there was a giant circular door that was built right in the middle of the house. Kotori was sure that she'd had to crouch a little just so she could walk in. Kotori felt like a place like what she was seeing would be something she would see in fairy tales.

"Wow, this is where you live?" Kotori asked. She was still in awe.

"Ah hm," Bliblo nodded and put on a pleased look.

"It's so lovely," Kotori complimented.

"Thank you," Bliblo said. This time he put on a sad smile as if he were remembering something that made him have that expression. Kotori wanted to ask what was wrong but thought that it was best if she didn't pry into his space right now. Kotori heard a few bushes rustling furiously behind her, it was near the entrance of the dark forest. She was nervous of what it might've been and she stood guard just in case it was a horrible monster that could eat them at any moment. Even Gintoki got up from his nice roll on the grass and had his wooden katana that he always brought everywhere ready to be pulled out. Everyone heard a large bark.

"Gin-San!" A girl's voice shouted out. In came in a giant dog tackling down Gintoki. All of him except for GIntoki's arms which were hanging out were completely engulfed by the giant dog's body.

"Sadaharu, g-get off me," Gintoki said as he tried to gasp for air, "can't breathe."

Turned out, the things that shot out of the dark forest and into Bliblo's home were actually Kagura, Shinpachi and Sadaharu leaping out. Kotori gave out a sigh of relief feeling glad that it was nobody dangerous.

"Sadaharu, get off of Gin-San, you're killing him," Kagura ordered Sadaharu. Sadaharu listened and stood up to let Gintoki free and free to breath again. Shinpachi lept off of Sadaharu and ran to Gintoki.

"Gin-San, you're alright! I'm so glad!"

"Where the hell did you guys go?" Gintoki asked as he was still recovering from all the air that was knocked out of him, "All of a sudden you guys were near me, and then next thing I know, you guys disappeared!"

"Look who's talking, we were so busy trying to find you and Kotori," Shinpachi exclaimed.

"I'm just glad that all of us are reunited again," Kotori said and gave everyone a relieved smile along with giving Shinpachi and Kagura a hug.

Bliblo cleared his throat which was a way for him to get everyone's attention. Gladly for him, the Yorozuya heard him and looked at him giving him their full attention. They saw that Bliblo looked a bit displeased and confused. It was probably because two people decided to suddenly burst into the front of his house with a gigantic dog that ended up walking all over his flowers.

Shinpachi walked closer to Bliblo, "I'm Shinpachi, nice to meet you." He bowed which was a sign of his greetings. "Sorry for intruding like that, it's just that Sadaharu sensed that Gintoki and Kotori were here. We didn't meant to cause any trouble."

"Ya, ya," Bliblo said sarcastically and he waved his hand shooing Shinpachi away from his personal space.

"You guys probably had a long journey, how about I cook you guys a nice meal and give you guys a nice place for you guys to sleep for the night."

Kagura leapt in the air, "Ya!" she yelled with excitement. Shinpachi and Gintoki liked the offer and accepted it. The only person that wouldn't accept the offer was Kotori.

Kotori apologized. "I'm sorry but we don't have time, we must go now. We have somewhere to be." Kotori heard Kagura and Shinpachi aweing. Kotori felt like she didn't have the time to rest for the day and feared that if she wasted any more time, something bad could happen to her father.

Gintoki raised a question."What? What are you saying Kotori?"

"Sorry Gin-San but don't you remember that we've got somewhere to be?"

"I do remember. We all remember but we've been moving non-stop and we need a rest, Kotori."

Kotori pointed her finger at Gintoki's scooter which was near the entrance to the dark forest. "We've got your scooter and Sadaharu is here, don't you think we'll be fine?"

"It's been a hot day and look at Shinpachi and Kagura. Can't you see how tired they are?"

Kotori took her eyes off of Gintoki and examined Kagura and Shinpachi and noticed by their eyes how tired they were. She also examined Gintoki and he was the same. Seeing them looking exhausted and dirty from the forest and their earlier travel and Kotori felt guilty. The Yoruzuya took their time by helping her and Kotori forgets to care about their needs.

"Forgive me, guys. I didn't think of how you guys were feeling." Kotori apologized. "Ok, we'll rest for the day."

Kagura leapt with excitement again. "Ya!"

Bliblo headed towards his tiny house and opened his door. "Alright guys, just come inside and wait up for the meals to be cooked." He gestured Kotori and the Yorozuya to go inside his house. They didn't understand how'd they fit in the tiny house but they shrugged off the thought and proceeded to head inside for a nice hot supper.

' _He may be grumpy but he's actually a nice man,"_ Kotori thought. At the end, she was able to think that maybe Bliblo was someone to be trusted.


	5. Chapter 5

**Forgive me for taking millions of decades to upload one chapter. My schoolwork gets in the way and I don't have a chance to finish writing. Sorry if the ending off the chapter seemed a bit rushed.**

 ***Note* My username was recently 'AlpacaChocolate' but now I changed it to 'Mango-Lychee' which I like better and will be more stable as my username for quite a while.**

Night had struck the skies with a bright crescent moon and a constellation of dazzling stars shining down at Mr. Bliblo's tiny house. Food was beginning to be cooked and everyone was able to smell how great it was and their mouths had begun to water. Kotori and the Yoruzuya waited patiently at the dinner table which was surprisingly big enough for all of them to fit. Actually, despite Bliblo's house looking so tiny, the interior of his house was more bigger and it somehow wasn't as cramped. Although, they were still tall enough to have their heads reach the ceiling and had to hunch over a bit.

"I'm going to relax outside until dinner is made," Gintoki said and he walked out of the tiny hobbit hole. It was true that he was going to relax outside but it was also an excuse so he didn't have to be hunched over for a long time in Bliblo's house. Gintoki was quite tall, in fact, he was taller than everyone and it was more of a hassle to for him to stay in that house. He walked towards the pond where he also saw Sadaharu and decided to relax beside him till it was time to eat. He laid down on his back with his arms behind his head on the grass and watched as the fireflies swarmed around him. This was pleasantly relaxing for Gintoki and he didn't mind if he came back to visit once in awhile.

Back in Bliblo's house Shinpachi and Kagura where sitting at a long table that Bliblo had in his dining room and they were playing a game of checkers which was given to them to play for the meantime while they waited for dinner. Kotori was in the kitchen helping Bliblo cook. She was glad that she was familiar with cooking traditional Japanese dishes because they were the only dishes that Kotori knew how to make..

"Cut the daikon for me," Bliblo requested. Kotori listened and began to cut the daikon. Even though she was good at cooking Japanese dishes, she wasn't good a cutting vegetables and they always ended up looking too chunky for the dishes but this time she made sure not to mess up; or so she thought.

"Man, what is that cutting you're doing? It's horrible!" Bliblo exclaimed. "You tell me you know how to cook yet your cut daikon looks like a giant die."

Kotori felt embarrassed. She couldn't help it, accuracy of cutting vegetable weren't her thing, "Sorry, I'm not good at cutting food. They always look bad in the meals I make. My father would usually get mad at me for that." Kotori laughed it off.

"It's all fine," Bliblo said, "I was just teasing you. If it makes you feel better, my wife was never good at cooking so I had to do all cooking instead. I'm glad I'm able to cook though. Her dishes tasted like dog residue."

Kotori giggled a bit. She thought it was funny how Bliblo told his story and it made Kotori feel a bit better. Kotori was curious and wanted to know more about Bliblo. He was kind enough to let them stay in his house and was kind enough to make a meal. There had to be more to him than his grumpy side.

Kotori took a deep breath and asked something that could've been risky. "May I ask where your wife is?" Immediately, she regretted asking that question when she saw the sad look on Bliblo's eyes when he gave her a smile. The question she asked was definitely a touchy subject. "Forgive me, you don't have to answer."

"No it's fine," Bliblo said looking wistful. "My wife, died of an illness two years ago. It was all so sudden. My son nor I didn't expect that something like that would be fated for her."

Kotori asked another question. "How was she like?"

"She was the best woman I have ever met. She was so kind and every day she'd bring us a smile. If there was a contest for the biggest optimist she would've won. Never once was there a scowl on her face."

"She sounds like a lovely woman. I would have loved to meet her if there was a chance," Kotori said.

"Oh trust me, she would be the best person to meet." Bliblo put on a big smile. Kotori could tell how much the old hobbit loved his wife.

"You mentioned you have a son?" Kotori asked.

Bliblo nodded, "Yes."

"Where is he now?"

"He moved to cities so he could study as a doctor."

"Sounds amazing!" Kotori said sounding interested in Bliblo's life. She envied him in a way. She wished she had a great father like him but Kotori felt like that wish was long gone. She sighed to herself.

"What's wrong, child?" Bliblo asked.

"Oh, it's nothing," Kotori replied, trying her best to smile off her sadness.

"You can tell me anything you know. I may be a prick at times but I'm a great listener." Bliblo pointed to himself and gave off a cheeky smile.

"It's nothing. I was just thinking about how great of a husband and father you were. I wish a had a great family like yours. Instead, my father hates me to the care. He doesn't care about me."

"Now don't think like that. I'm sure he doesn't actually hate you. Deep inside of him, there's gotta be at least a tiny bit of love for you." Bliblo patted Kotori on the shoulder.

"I don't think so. He's been giving me the cold shoulder since I was a kid. Ever since my mother died. He wasn't the same anymore. As if he were blaming me for her death. "There was a short second of awkward silence.

"Listen Kotori, just know deep inside, it's not your fault that your mother is dead and don't beat yourself up for it. Also I don't know what it feels like nor have I ever experienced your situation but all I know is that, if even though you guys related by blood, it doesn't necessarily mean a good family."

"Thanks." Kotori said sarcastically.

"I'm not done talking my dear child. Listen!" Bliblo snapped. "I wanted to say. No need to worry, it may take a long time or a short time but you'll eventually find a new family where someone will care for you."

"You really think so?" Kotori asked.

Bliblo let out a kind and soft smile. "Of course."

Kotori has always heard from the house servants say "Your father does care about you," every time she cried when she was five saying "Father hates me." But hearing Bliblo's comforting advice made her feel better and it help.

"Thank you. What you said helped." Kotori said with a kind smile.

"Anytime." Bliblo smiled back again.

"Also thank you for letting us stay here for the night. It's a pleasure and I really am sorry about having you get run over by our scooter. It was so dark in the forest, we couldn't see."

"It's all good miss, the past is the past." Bliblo said. No matter how grumpy Bliblo was, he was also nice and caring and Kotori was glad to see that side and thought that he must have been great to his wife and son.

Half an hour has passed and the meal was ready. Bliblo gave out the bowls of rice with side dishes for Kotori to take to the table for Shinpachi and Kagura to eat. Her mouth started watering as she carried them. The two kids also had their mouths watering two at the sight of the food. Kotori couldn't blame them it was a long time to eat.

"Gintoki hasn't come inside yet?" Kotori asked.

"Nope, he's still outside," Shinpachi answered.

 _"_ _Maybe I should bring his food to him."_ Kotori thought and she took Gintoki's bowl of rice with his side dish and headed outside.


	6. Chapter 6

Kotori went to search for Gintoki outside. Since it was dark, it was hard to spot the silver haired man until she noticed a big giant shadow near the pond and she knew immediately that it was Sadaharu and guessed that maybe Gintoki was next to the big dog. Kotori walked over towards them and noticed that Gintoki had fell asleep. He looked relaxed and it which was nice to see apart from his loud personality that Kotori witnessed the moment they met which was literally a day ago, soon to be two days ago once the sun has woken up. Although, despite him being loud, she didn't mind and thought it was cute. Kotori shook her head. She wondered why she thought that and felt weird for thinking that.

"You can't think like that," she whispered to herself as she tapped herself on the head as if that were suppose to erase what she was thinking. She snapped out of her thoughts and took a deep breath before waking Gintoki up.

"Gintoki," Kotori called his name as she slightly shook him to wake him up. He didn't wake up and continued to sleep. "Gintoki, wake up," Kotori called his name again, shaking him a bit more. Still, he did not wake up.

"Man, you sleep like a dead man," Kotori told him even though he wasn't awake to hear. Kotori had a great idea to wake the man up. She looked at Sadaharu who suddenly sat up and started wagging his tail and smirked.

"Hey Sadaharu, help me wake Gintoki up," Kotori ordered Sadaharu. The giant white ball of fluff barked and stood up to go over to the sleeping Gintoki. Sadaharu opened his mouth and engulfed the man's head, giving him a slight bite on his skill so that a decent amount of blood was dripping down on Gintoki's face. Not knowing Sadaharu would do something like that, Kotori starting freaking out. "No not like that! Is this what you do to people?" Sadaharu let go of Gintoki's head of his mouth and Gintoki's sleeping body plopped back down on the grass.

With a late reaction, Gintoki let out the sound of pain from his mouth and instantly sat up. He turned his head a bit so he was able to see Sadaharu and starting yelling at him, "What the hell was that for Sadaharu, I know you always do this but at a time I'm sleeping? Have some boundaries, would ya!?"

Kotori apologized, "Forgive me Gintoki, it was my fault, I asked Sadaharu to help me wake you up but I didn't expect him to bite your head." Gintoki turned his head to Kotori now, "You should be sorry!" He yelled looking irritated and grumpy.

Kotori started feeling nervous and worried. She didn't want to have the guy helping her be mad at her. Gintoki read her expression and he gave an annoyed sigh and calmed himself down. "Hey, hey, sorry. Sadaharu does that very often. It's alright."

"You sure?" Kotori reassured.

"Ya," Gintoki said and laid back down on the grass with his arms behind his back and his legs crossed and didn't care about the blood dripping down his face from Sadaharu's bite.

"Wait your head is still bleeding!" Kotori exclaimed.

"It's fine, I'm not gonna die." Gintoki said.

"But.."

"I told you, I'm fine," Gintoki interrupted.

Kotori almost forgot about the tray of food she was holding in her hands. "Ah, your food, forgot I was holding it! Here eat it before it becomes cold!"

"I'm too lazy to get up and eat," Gintoki complained.

"Since your head is bleeding and you or I won't do anything about it, might as well eat so you can replenish your health!' Kotori nagged. Gintoki turned his back to her, "Who are you, my mother?" He asked.

"Just sit up so I can feed you then!" Kotori exclaimed getting agitated. A part of Kotori now didn't regret having Sadaru bite Gintoki's head and regretted and thought but at the same time, she thought Gintoki deserved it for being a complicated person to deal it.

"Fine," Gintoki exasperated. He turned around to face Kotori and sat up. "Here," Kotori said and took a spoonful of rice with vegetables and meat that Bliblo and her made and fed it to Gintoki. ' _Just like a kid,'_ Kotori thought.

"This' food is actually pretty good. Shinpachi, Kagura and I hadn't had a meal like this is in so long." Gintoki mumbled as he was still chewing his food. "Ya,ya. More chewing, less talking," Kotori nagged again. Gintoki easily complied to her and ate the rest of his food in silence.

"Have you eaten yet?" Gintoki asked with his mouth full of food. "Not yet. But I'll go back to eat once you finished your food." Just then, Kotori's stomach started growling. "Sorry," Kotori said feeling embarrassed. She gave Gintoki another spoonful of food, trying to have him ignore the stomach growls but then, the bowl and spoon were grabbed out of her hands and were now in possession of Gintoki.

"Open up," He said as he took a spoonful of food from his bowl.

Kotori denied the food, "No, it's fine. It's your dinner so eat up. I told you that I'd eat after you finish your food."

"I said open up," Gintoki ordered. It didn't look like he was listening to what Kotori as saying at all and moved the spoonful of food closer to her mouth.

"I said it's alrig-!" Before she was about to say anything else, the food was shoved in her mouth. "Mmphf!" She tried to speak but too late and she started chewing on the food.

"I'm helping you go back home to see your father so you can at least one favour for me and eat, geez." Gintoki sneered.

"Sorry," Kotori apologized.

Gintoki ruffled Kotori's hair, "I'm just kidding you know."

Kotori giggled embarrassingly "Oh right... I knew that."

"Alright then, start eating then." Gintoki took another spoonful of food from his bowl. "Here comes the airplane!" Gintoki gestured and then made horrible airplane sound effects.

"I'm not baby, you need to do that!" Kotori crossed her arms and pouted.

"I'm spoon-feeding you. Of course I need to."

Kotori stood up from the grass. "Alright, never mind I'm going to eat my own food inside. See you later!" She strutted back to the hobbit hole.

"Bye!" Gintoki yelled out and went back to lie down on the grass next to Sadaharu and closed his eyes.

Kotori felt her cheeks up. The thought of being spoon-fed by a grown man and treated like a baby was pretty embarrassing. "And he even did that airplane thing, too like a baby." She shook her head trying to let go of embarrassing things that happened to her.

"Aw man, Kotori, don't fret over something stupid by yourself, why am I overreacting so much?" She asked herself.

"Just forget about that," Kotori told herself. She went back inside the Hobbit hole. "Bliblo I'm back! Gintoki is eating now!"

"Alright dear, now eat your food now or it'll be more cold than it is now."

"Alright, Bliblo!" Kotori went to sit down with Shinpachi and Kagura and began to eat her dinner.


End file.
